Rocrail is provided for Windows as a ZIP file with - among others - the following advantages:

• No installation¹⁾ in the classical sense - just unzip and start.
• Unpacking to (almost) any place on the computer.
• No active²⁾ Modification of the Windows registry - safe trial and error and trackless deletion possible.
• All files in one place.
• Installation on a suitable USB stick or portable drive. This allows convenient editing at the workplace and system operation at a remote location (e.g. basement, club home) without having to copy or synchronize files.
• Easy copying of the entire installation to a USB stick or other portable drive to take with you, e.g. to friends or a Rocrail meeting for presentation, discussion, analysis and getting help.
• Moving an installation to a new computer, to another drive etc. is easy and can be done with a few clicks.

Rocrail runs on Windows versions starting with Windows XP.

• Windows XP, Vista are no longer supported in the forum! Installation may be possible, it is not recommended to use these versions.
• Windows 7, 8, 8.1 are limited supported.
• Windows 10.

The following chapters refer to the current Windows 10.

This chapter describes how to download and install Rocrail for the first time.

If switching from an existing old installation created with setup.exe to the ZIP installer, there is a separate guide available, see Change to ZIP installer under Windows

The daily updated ZIP file can be downloaded from the Rocrail Daily Builds page.
On the left side below Rocrail ZIP click on either Rocrail-WIN64.zip (for a 64bit system) or Rocrail-WIN32.zip (for an older 32bit system).

Depending on the browser used, a left click will either save the file in a central download directory or open a dialogue box to specify the desired location. Alternatively, by right-clicking and selecting Save target as… any desired location can be specified. Remember or write down the storage location.

Locate the downloaded ZIP file in the file system at the previously noted location - here it was saved on the desktop.

ZIP file

Open the context menu of the file (right click on the file) and select the item Extract All….

Context Menu

The following dialogue opens:

Dialogue Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders

This dialogue shows the current location of the file in the field below Files will be extracted to this folder:.

Check the box next to Show extracted files when complete if this option is not already checked.
Instead of the displayed folder the folder where Rocrail should be installed has to be selected. First click on the button Browse….

After clicking on Browse… Windows opens the dialogue Select a destination:

Select a destination

As shown in the figure, the Documents folder should now be opened. Then a new folder is created by clicking on the button New Folder. It should be named Rocrail. Finally the folder is set as destination by clicking on the button Select folder.

Windows will then return to the Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders dialogue, which should now look like shown in the following section.

Dialogue Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders with destination folder C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\Rocrail

Click on Extract.
The files are now extracted. This process may take a while, depending on the operating system settings, Windows Defender and computer performance. In the meantime, Windows will show the progress:

Progress graphic in the view More details

When the extraction is complete, Windows displays the contents of the newly created folder as the result:

Typical result after extraction. The exact folder content may change from time to time as Rocrail evolves.

This completes the installation as such. Finally, a shortcut has to be created on the desktop.

If the extraction of the files was done with the above settings, the folder Rocrail was opened automatically⁴⁾:

File desktoplink.cmd in Rocrail folder

A double click on the file desktoplink.cmd⁵⁾ in this folder creates a valid shortcut Rocview on the desktop.

Rocview desktop icon

Tip: The shortcut can be pinned to the taskbar or to "Start", for example, if required.

When creating the shortcut, the first start of Rocview and the first start of the Rocrail server, warnings of the Windows Defender can be displayed. This also applies after updates. The warnings should be handled as follows:

Click on "More Information". The dialogue changes as shown on the right	In the second step, click on the button "Run anyway".

Rocrail is constantly evolving and should always be kept up to date. For regular, for example monthly updates, complete updates are recommended, see the following section.

In some cases it is useful to follow the current development with more frequent updates, for example once or twice a week or even daily. Such updates can be limited to essential parts of the program, see section Quick update.

Note: Quit Rocrail completely before each update!

• Download a current ZIP file (Chapter 1.1).
• Prepare unpacking (Section 1.2.1).
• Remove the checkmark at Show extracted files when complete (optional).
• Click on the Browse button.

Dialogue Select a destination opens:

Dialogue Select a destination

In this dialogue the folder where Rocrail was installed has to be selected. Normally this is the folder Rocrail under Documents.
The folder is selected as shown in the figure and the Select Folder button is clicked.

• Continue with the Unpacking section.

After all files have been extracted, Windows will ask how to handle existing files:

Dialogue Replace or skip files

In this dialogue, click on Replace the files in the destination.
The update is now complete.

• Download a current ZIP file (Chapter 1.1).
• Open the downloaded ZIP file by double-clicking it.

Prepare the bin folder for extraction by right clicking on it and selecting Extract All….

Extracting the bin folder located in the ZIP file

Attention: The right click must be done to the right of the text bin, not on the text and not on the folder symbol, otherwise a different context menu will be shown. The folder must not have been activated beforehand (e.g. by a left click), otherwise the context menu with Extract All… is not available either.

The dialogue Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders opens.

• The check mark at Show extracted files when complete can be removed (optional).
• Click on the Browse button.

Find the folder Rocrail into which the installation has been unpacked (in the example of this page: C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\Rocrail). Open the folder with a double click. Mark the contained folder bin as shown in the following figure and click on the button Select folder.

Selecting folder bin

Windows jumps back to the dialogue Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders, in which C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\Rocrail\bin should now be displayed as the target.

• Click on the Extract button.
• Confirm overwriting existing files as described in the Complete Update section.

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